


Incompatible Magic

by Dinomancer



Series: Incompatible Magic [1]
Category: El Goonish Shive
Genre: Incompatible Magic, Magic, Mild Humor, Other, Transformations (Duh), coping with stress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-11
Updated: 2017-03-14
Packaged: 2018-10-02 16:18:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10222343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dinomancer/pseuds/Dinomancer
Summary: Tedd has often guessed that different worlds have their own systems of magic. In another world Sarah-Ann Lillian Mattox was a powerful Practitioner. This isn't that world.





	1. Sudden Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> AN: I've always been shy in showing my work. But I love writing and I want to do more of it. This character, Ann Mattox, began life in a somewhat dark Magical Earth setting with its own clearly defined rules of magic. When I decided to begin writing again she was originally re-cast in a another EGS fan-fic I am working on, but her story is much less lighthearted in tone than the rest of that fic. So she wound up spun off into her own story. This is the first thing I have publicly posted in years, please let me know if you like it. :)
> 
> I also might as well warn you all that I don't have an editor.

All was quiet in the Verres household. In the living room Edward Varres and a much younger woman sat quietly. Scattered around them were four clocks, four different ways of keeping time. A digital on the mantle, a mechanical one on the wall, a flat cell phone on the table, and Mr. Varres' pocket watch. They all read 11:59.  


There was no one else in the house. Tedd and Grace were off in their dorms. Their various friends and family had joined them in higher education or had decided to take time off and figure out what they wanted to do with their lives. Their absence left the pair alone in silence, watching the clocks.  


Within a few seconds of one another, the clocks all turned over to 12:00. The mechanical clock on the wall chimed the hour. Still they sat quietly  


The clocks read 12:01.  


“That's it,” said the woman. “A year and a day. If he was going to come he would have by now.”  


Mr. Verres merely grunted.  


“So what happens to me now?” the young woman asked. “Is this the part where you arrest me?”  


“Ms. Mattox...” Mr. Verres sighed and put his watch away in his pocket. “Ms. Mattox, I do not like you. Your actions put my family at risk, and a personal willingness to fix the issue does not absolve you of creating the issue in the first place. You have caused me, personally, a great deal of extra work, not to mention several sleepless nights.”  


He paused, looking at the young woman in across from him as she chewed on her lip, not meeting his eye. He then glanced down at her hands, to the missing fingernail on her right ring finger that even a year later had yet to grow back.  


“Ms. Mattox.” he began again. “I do not like you. But in the end nothing you did was illegal. And so it is my job to deal with you. You are a young woman in an unenviable situation. You have no family here, no life to return to. Even if you could manage to find a way home, you still exist over there, having never left. You yourself now exist as a... How did you put it? 'An imprint left in clay.'” Ms. Mattox had now folded her arms across her arms and was steadfastly looking at the floor.  


“Nevertheless,” he continued, not looking directly at her, “over the last year you are someone I watched attempt to fulfill her obligations to the best of her ability. You have continuously attempted to protect those you interacted with, and have attempted to shield others from harm beyond any legal requirement to do so. It is my belief, whatever my personal feelings for you, that you are a fundamentally honest person, deserving all of the rights and responsibilities being a sentient citizen in this country provides.”  


Out of the corner of his eye he saw her shoulders slump in relief and she let out the breath he wasn't aware she had been holding.  


“You will be provided with government assisted housing. In order to keep this housing you must find some form of employment, and you, like everyone else on this form of assistance, will have six months to do so. You will be provided with vouchers for food and utilities for the first six months, and their value will be reassessed after the six month time frame is up. I would also recommend attending the local community college. Given your situation, I believe the social contact would be good for you.”  


Ms. Mattox kept her head down, eyes toward the floor. She waited for a long moment before replying. “Thanks.”  


“You are welcome. It might also be possible that, because of your skills, you will be hired on special consignment from time to time, by my department or others.” He looked over the rim of his glasses at her. “That will not be a steady job, however, and you will be required to keep steady employment in order to keep your housing. Tomorrow morning- later this morning I suppose, I will take you down to view your apartment. And Ms. Mattox?” He waited to continue until she looked up at him. “By this time two days from now you _will_ have your items out of my house.”

  


\-- _A little over one year ago._

Edward Verres is an important man, though few people ever heard his name. He is in charge of all Paranormal Diplomacy; be it international, extraplanar, extraterrestrial or even extradimensional. This afforded him a large desk in a large office in an important and highly secure building in the American Heartland. Unlike many important people, he didn't adorn his walls with trophies or certificates. In truth the little decoration he allowed in his office were taken up with portraits of his child, Tedd. More recent photographs included Grace, the woman he supposed would soon be his daughter in-law. The way things had been going he would be surprised if one of them hadn't proposed to the other by the time the year was out.  


The truth is despite his lofty position he'd had very little to do in the last year, barring a few tense days when Earth had been visited by the Deathless Army of Rage. Whatever his impressive title said, the sideways promotion into the head of his current department had effectively sidelined him. He could wield a substantial amount of power if he chose to, and had several time over the last year as various paranormal emergencies had reared their heads. But now for the most part his job was to interact with, to compile and to coordinate agencies and information. And yet the agencies and departments he was supposed to be working with had already been running so well and for so long that he had surprisingly little to do with his time. In fact, outside of emergencies, it sometimes seemed like he had nothing to do at all.  


The phone on his desk chimed; the caller ID read 'Nanase—Urgent'. With a sigh the stabbed the button to answer the call and switched it over to intercom. “Nanase, I suppose it would be to much to hope for this to be a social call?” Edward asked dryly.  


“Hi uncle Edward,” came his niece's voice through the speaker, she was speaking rapidly to convey as much information in as short a time as possible. “Tedd said to call you to let you know what was going on. Several of us had come over at your place for movies. Tedd was watching Justin use his magic like he does when he said there was something like a bolt of lightning that hit Sarah- only the rest of us never saw anything. Sarah was stunned for a minute then she _snarled_ , I didn't even know humans could snarl, and she bolted out of the basement--”  


“Nanase-” Edward began. But Nanase, if she heard him at all, simply talked over him.  


“-Ellen tried to stop Sarah on the stairs, but Sarah simply flattened her and kept on going--” There was a sudden increase in yelling in the background. “Something's happening. _SorryuncleEdbutIgottago_.”  


“Nanase wait-!” he began, but the line was already dead.  


Edward Verres was not by nature a violent man, nor one prone to making decisions in haste. But he was a man with precious little family in this world, as well as quite a bit of authority with which to protect them with. Pulling out his personal phone he opened his contacts and selected the forth one down.  


“Wolf?” He asked as soon as his call was answered. “It's Ed. Are you in town? … Good. Gather up anyone that's there and get them to my house _now_. Something's going on. I'm on my way but you'll get there faster.”

  


–- _A little while before that._

Ellen sat three steps from the bottom on the stairs leading down into the basement watching bemusedly at the sight before her. Tedd had tilted his head a little, pinching his chin between his thumb and forefinger as he watched Justin finish an _Anime Martial Arts_ kata. Doing that thing he does where he actually see can _see_ magic. “Okay now, one more time.” They had just taken a quick break when Susan slipped by to rummage for snacks upstairs.  


“With feeling!” Nanase added from her place on the couch with Sarah.  


“Ha-ha” Tedd shot back, before thinking about it for a moment. “Actually, do try to put feeling into it, let's see if that changes anything. But then, movies!”  


They were all _supposed_ to all be upstairs watching movies by now. The new _Occupied Evil_ movie would be in the dollar theater soon- though why they still called it a 'dollar theater' when it now cost $3.75 to get in Ellen wasn't quite sure- and Justin recommend they watch all the others in a marathon. After the last several weeks of Griffins, Vampires, angry Immortals and a pissed off crazy cult leader, a marathon of bad 'horror' seemed like a nice change of pace. Most everyone had the day free. Elliot had a prior date with Ashley. And the mysterious Sam, Sarah's new boyfriend, had something else to do. That part didn't sit well with Ellen, she definitely wanted a chance to vet this new guy before things got too serious between him and Sarah.  


As luck would have it, Justin arrived first, and Tedd used that opportunity to lure him into his basement/lair/lab so he could finally get a chance to study Justin's magic. ' _Come down to my lab._ ' Tedd had said ' _I have lots of freaky, sexy stuff down there._ '  


' _Freaky and sexy?_ ' Justin had replied in a low, husky voice. ' _That sounds fantastic. The only reason my shirt's still on is because you're dating Grace._ '  


Tedd blushed. ' _Who do you think told me to invite you down there...?_ ' he said, biting the end of his finger.  


Or that's how Ellen chose to believe it happened, anyway. Mentally putting Tedd in situations he'd find embarrassing was a very minor way at getting back at him for all of the mental anguish he'd caused her a year ago. Not that she really blamed him anymore, or so the logical part of her mind would say. The events that led to her creation had been a total accident. But logic and emotion were rarely on the same page, so she took silent joy in inflicting the occasional petty torment which would never actually affect him... Plus, you know, he was cute.  


Everyone else had drifted in over the next fifteen minutes. But by that time Tedd was already engrossed in Tedd-land, Teddsylvania, The People's Republic of Tedd, Tedd.. Something. where he ruled as his (or her) Teddness.  


Susan showed up after Justin. Sarah arrived just after, but she was quite used to Tedd being eccentric, so she simply sat on the couch and chatted. By the time Ellen and Nanase had arrived everyone had already set up shop in the basement. 'Three more minutes. Then movies,' Tedd had claimed. Which, to his credit, had only been around six minutes ago.  


“I don't think adding emotion did anything, at least not that I can see,” Tedd said, running a hand through his lilac hair in thought. “If we could get someone else to learn this spell—” His whole body suddenly jumped in surprise. “What?”  


“What 'what'?” Grace asked, rocking from the balls of her feet to her heels and back again.  


“There's something... Sarah...” Tedd trailed off, now looking intently at her.  


Ellen looked down at her. Tedd was right. Sarah was sitting, staring at her hands like she had never seen them before. From where she was sitting Ellen couldn't see Sarah's face but her girlfriend could, and what Nanase was able to see had her concerned.  


“Sarah?” Nanase began to ask. “Are-” That was as far as she got. Two things happened. The first was Sarah snarled, not yelled, or growled, but snarled like a beast, which Ellen wasn't even aware humans were capable of doing, the second was Sarah slamming her shoulder into Nanase. Barely over five foot, just this side of chubby, Sarah drove her body into the larger woman so hard Nanase was sent toppling over the arm of the couch.  


“What the Carp!?” Nanase yelled.  


“Something's wrong,” said Tedd.  


“Are you okay!?” Grace cried, though Ellen wasn't sure if Grace was asking Sarah or Nanase.  


Sarah leaped to her feat and made for the foot of the stairs. “Sarah, are--” Justin hurriedly began while stepping in the way, putting his hands up but not trying to touch her. Everything in the basement was happening so fast he never had time to cancel his spell. Sarah lunged right for him, grabbing at his wrists, not knowing or not caring what that spell could do. An instant before they touched Justin's magic flickered and died. Rather then give him time to be relieved Sarah jerked his arms out, rotating them both with her momentum and, using her body as a counterbalance, flung the much heavier man out of the way. Sprawling him into Grace and knocking them both into the wall.  


“Stop her!” Tedd yelled. “Don't let her out!”  


Ellen was already on her feet, at some point in the last few seconds she had moved down to the bottom landing. She knew Sarah well, all her life in some ways. Even without her magic she knew she was a lot stronger and, unlike Sarah, Ellen knew how to fight. She was ready for this. “I'm sorry, but you aren't leaving,” she said as she reached out to grab Sarah by the shoulders, ready to force the much weaker woman back onto the couch. Tedd could find a way to fix this.  


Ellen wasn't ready for the forearm that came up, batting her's away. She wasn't ready when Sarah's hands latched down onto her wrist and elbow, trapping her arm. She wasn't ready when Sarah's leg slammed into her own, crushing her ability to maintain her balance. She was barely able to make herself ready when Sarah used the leverage she had gained to twist both their bodies around and began to throw. At that instant, vividly she was able to recall Sensei Greg once demonstrating to Elliot, back when she still was Elliot, what to do in this situation. “ _If anyone ever grabs you like this when they go to throw you, you have to roll into it like so. If you don't, your own body's torque will break your arm at the elbow._ '  


Ellen used what little control over her body's momentum that she had to rotate herself around the throw. Twisting so as to keep her feet under her and her arm intact... And it worked. She still landed hard, hitting the ground in a crouch; her knees were going to hate her tomorrow. But for now she was elated. Not only was she okay, but she had properly executed a difficult maneuver which she had never once physically practiced.  


Sarah congratulated Ellen by driving a fist into her sternum, knocking her backwards from her precarious crouch and laying her flat out on the floor.  


It would take Ellen several moments to collect herself. At that instant she was aware of the ceiling, of Justin running past her up the stairs and of Tedd yelling at someone to call his father.

  


Justin took the stairs three at a time, launching himself through the doorway at the top of the stairs in into the kitchen. Sarah was rattling the locked patio door, howling in frustration that she couldn't get it to open. She began to turn around, whether it was because she heard him or she was looking for another way out he didn't know.  


“Sarah, wait-” he began again, only to have the words die in his throat. Her face was bestial, inhuman, a twisted mask of anger that suddenly made him regret recommending zombie movies for the evening.  


Once again, she charged him. By reflex Justin powered up the magic in his fists but he couldn't bring himself to do more than hold them out in front of him. Even touching her with that spell up could be disastrous. Sarah was his friend. He knew he had no idea what was going on, but he didn't want to hurt her.  


In the end the decision was made for him. She knocked his hands away, once again his magic flickering away and dying an instant before she made contact, and shouldered him hard. Driving them both back through the kitchen and into the far wall. This time he wasn't surprised. He grabbed her upper arm with his right hand to hold her still. Sarah responded by rearing back for a headbutt but in doing so telegraphed her intentions, Justin stopped it by grabbing her forehead in the palm of his left hand.  


It was that moment he realized. She's good at what she does. She's been taught. She knows what she is doing and is applying her lessons well and with extreme aggression. But even so her skills are no more advanced than a moderate student's. Her motions are sloppy. She telegraphs her movements ahead of time. She's been getting by on pure aggression so far.  


He realized in that instant that she was good, but he was better.

Justin let go of her arm, placed his right hand on her sternum and he pushed. Sarah stumbled back, arms cartwheeling in an attempt to stay upright. And very nearly loosing her feet anyway.  


“Sarah,” he began again. “I don't want to hurt you.” But she wasn't listening. She turned around and bolted down the hall towards the front door, dragging a chair out with her foot as she did so, knocking it over in his path to slow him down. He knew it wouldn't matter, the front door was locked too. Knowing what he knew now, all they had to do was get any two of himself, Nanase, Grace of Ellen together and they'd easily be able to subdue Sarah.  


That's when he looked down the hall and saw her charging straight for Susan.

  


Susan froze. She looked at her friend and saw a face contorted. She saw a face of anger. She saw a face of rage. She saw a face of _hate_. Susan had only seen a face like that once before. In France. Her nightmares had come to life, and now one of her friends wore that face.  


Panicking she summoned her sword, but found suddenly that she had forgotten how to use it. Justin was yelling something that she couldn't make out as her brain was frantically trying to remember what the Immortals had told her about how to use the blade she now held. Only one coherent thought was able to force its way through the fog of her brain as the monster closed in: ' _Please let this be a nightmare._ '  


Sarah ducked in under Susan's guard and grabbed her by the forearm, hammering the side of her free hand where Susan's thumb met her wrist. Susan yelped and let go of the blade, unsummoning it as she did so. Sarah was already lunging for it, but paused for a moment, confused, when her hands only grabbed empty air.  


“Sarah?” Susan asked, her voice trembling. Tedd and Justin were already coming down the Hall. Her friend looked back at her, snarling, before bolting into the only open path left, the living room.

  


The kitchen was empty by the time Grace had gotten to the top of the stairs, she turned left, Ellen and Nanase followed her. Heading through the dining room and round into the living room seconds after Sarah ran in from the front hall. Grace, Ellen and Nanase were between Sarah and one door, Tedd and Justin between her and the other. Now Sarah had no way out.  


Sarah took turns snarling towards one group, then the other. Her posture and movements aggressive, bestial, inhuman. Her face contorted by hisses and growls, roaring if anyone made a move closer.  


To say Grace was feeling upset was an understatement. “Sarah,” she pleaded as Sarah looked at her. “please tell me what's wrong.”  


“Grace...” Tedd answered. “That's not Sarah.” Sarah looked at him.  


“Then who is it!?” Nanase yelled.  


“I don't- I can't tell. Everything about her that I can see,” he replied, gritting his teeth in frustration, “It just keeps changing.” At some point Susan had overcome her fear and slipped into the room behind Tedd, but Grace wasn't entirely sure just when that happened.  


“Sarah,” Justin said while stepping forward, but still out of reach. His hands held out in front of him non-threateningly, ignoring as Sarah snapped in his direction with her tiny human teeth. “Sarah, we're your friends. We care about you and we only want to help you.”  


Something in Grace's mind clicked that no matter what else she did, Sarah would look at whomever said her name. On the verge of tears Grace pleaded with her. “Sarah!”  


Sarah turned toward her with a renewed snarl, her head canted at an almost unnatural angle.  


“Your name is Sarah Brown. Sarah. Brown.” Grace pleaded. “Please, you're my friend, you have to remember!”  


Sarah's posture shifted as she turned slightly towards the squirrel, tilting her head again to flick her now wild hair out of her face. _“Brown?_ ” she replied, in a voice little more than a low growl. _“No Brown.”_  


Grace took half a step forward, but for once Sarah did not shy away. “Sarah. I don't know what's wrong. But please, _please_ , let me help you.”  


For a long moment nothing happened. But then slowly, cautiously, Sarah began edging towards her. At all times shifting to keep maximum distance between her and everyone but Grace. Legs bent, posture hunched. Her movements more akin to a great ape or a feral dog than a human.  


“Graaaace...” Tedd said, softly and calmly so as not to spook Sarah. “Is that such a good idea?”  


Grace kept her eyes on Sarah, but never looking directly _in_ her eyes, as she replied. “She's my friend.” She found she had to pause to swallow her suddenly dry throat. “I'm not scared. We keep her calm and we can find out what's going on.”  


By now Sarah had made it most of the way across the room towards her. Creeping closer like a stray cat being offered food, moving cautiously and ready to leap back at the slightest provocation. Grace closed her eyes for a long moment and controlled her breathing, keeping her hands at her side and allowing Sarah come closer at her own pace. Everyone else in the room waited silently, desperate not to challenge the fragile peace.  


Grace and Sarah were normally about the same height, or whatever passed for normal for a shapeshifter. But with Sarah crouched over the way she was Grace had to crane her neck down to keep her friend in view as she crept the last few feet closer. Less then a foot away Sarah stopped and did something unusual for a feral animal, she looked Grace directly in the eyes. Grace looked back, attempting to keep her face a careful neutral mask, praying her eyes did not give away her anxiety. In Sarah's blue eyes she no longer saw the rage from before, now they were clouded by suspicion.  


' _please-please-please-please-please_ ' were the only words in Grace's mind, repeating over and over again.  


Slowly, without breaking eye contact, Sarah leaned up. Carefully coming closer, stretching until her face was level with Grace's neck. Then Sarah leaned in, causing Grace to stifle a small jump when Sarah's face pressed against the hollow of her throat. She could feel Sarah take a single long breath in through her nose, before rocking back slightly, pondering whatever it was she was able to smell.  


She watched as Sarah, less cautiously this time, leaned in towards her collarbone. Bending down to inhale a single long breath from shoulder to elbow.  


Then something began to happen. Sarah's legs and back began straightening, she raised her head and after a few moments, for the first time since the change, stood as a human would.  


“Alright.” She said in a voice that was definitely not Sarah's. “I'm listening.”


	2. Hasty Ritual

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ann realizes how badly she screwed up and tries to make things right.

Tedd blinked and rubbed his eyes for a moment, what he'd just seen was... Incredible. While “Sarah” was still savage she was covered in a constantly shifting overlay of fanged brutes, multi-limbed monstrosities, roiling storm clouds and venomous eyes. When “Sarah” stood up and began to speak it was like watching someone folding themselves up and putting themselves away. The overlays were first pulled off and then absorbed back into her. His sight told him they were almost like magical manifestations of sentient emotion. Almost, but not quite. “You're different,” was all he could think to say. It was only after he spoke that he realized no one else was saying anything.

“I suppose I am,” Not-Sarah replied, turning towards him, totally misinterpreting his meaning. “I don't think I'm your Sarah. I don't believe I am, anyway.” She began studying the walls of the house, specifically the exterior walls, he wondered if she was going to try and make a break for it again.

No one seemed to know what to say to that and Not-Sarah seemed content to let the silence stretch on as she studied the windows and exterior walls of the house, pacing a few steps around the room. He could see that she was doing something, but whatever she was doing was so alien his intuition couldn't identify it. It was Ellen that broke the silence. “You're not _our_ Sarah. So your name is Sarah.”

“Yes, but it's not a name I go by.” Not-Sarah screwed her eyes shut for a moment. “Sympathy of Names is how I think I ended up here. If that's true, then my being here is a total fluke.”

It was Grace who replied next. “What do you mean?” He saw that she had her hands up by her chest, palms down. Much like a small mammal would. It was a habit from her squirrel heritage, and meant that she was far more nervous then she was willing to show. He made his way over to her while Not-Sarah was thinking of her reply, and caused Grace to jump a bit when he slid his arm around her waist.

“I...” Not-Sarah stood in the middle of the room, head down, her examinations of the walls forgotten. “I was being carried along. I had no way to stop. I was... I'd seen it before, from the outside. When someone was being summoned...” She paused, staring at her hands. Looking up at everyone around her briefly, then back down at her hands. The prior neutrality and cautiousness in her face was gone, Tedd could see she was scared. “Or being swept to oblivion.” She shook her head then continued. “For a time I thought I was going to die... Then I felt a small tug. I grabbed on to it and I held on with every bit of strength I had.” Not-Sarah looked up at them again. “And I would up here.”

“So the first thing you did was attack us?” Nanase spoke from behind him. She had trouble hiding the incredulousness in her voice.

“For that I am sorry. But I didn't know you. I thought I had just been summoned, there were five practitioners right next to me and you kept calling me Sarah.” She gave a helpless shrug. “Sympathy of Names and all.”

“Okay. Pardon my ignorance.” Justin spoke up from Tedd's left, looking around at everyone else in the room. “But 'Sympathy of Names'? I know I'm not a magically inclined as the rest of you, but that doesn't explain anything to me.”

“Me either” replied Tedd.

It was Not-Sarah's turn to be surprised. “Uh, the Law of Sympathy of Names?” She raised her hands in a why-don't-you-get-this gesture. “One of the foundations of magical law?” She looked around at them. “You're all sensitives, if not full blown practitioners. That's why I freaked out so badly when I got here. Are you going to tell me not a one of you knows this?”

Tedd heard Nanase growl behind him, if he looked he was sure she'd be gritting her teeth. “No. We don't. Why don't you explain it to us?”

Not-Sarah shook her head, not knowing or not caring how her attitude was irritating his cousin. “Okay, fine. Magic 101. Things that have like attributes can be affected sympathetically. This is the foundation for the Law of Sympathy.” Both Grace and Justin looked his way, Tedd could only shrug. Magic didn't work like that so far as he knew. “Sympathy of Names is a special subset of the Law of Sympathy in that names can change, but an object can still be affected by, and can still be scryed as, a name it no longer holds.” She looked at Nanase. “My first name, legally, is Sarah-Ann. But there were so many Sarahs in my family that I never once went by it. I don't recognize it as my own name. The only people that ever call me 'Sarah' are people who only know what they can find out about me indirectly. Police, doctors, lawyers and hostile practitioners, to name a few.” 

She sighed and shook her head. “For what it's worth, I'm sorry for how I reacted. I don't think... I don't think I was supposed to be here at all. I think my soul really was being swept away. But magic, it runs so deep here and so slow the air literally sings. This house was so strongly warded. And with her and I sharing a name... I felt a tug and I held on for dear life.”

“Which begs the question-” Somewhere in the last few minutes Susan had folded her arms and leaned back against the archway from the front hall. “If you aren't our Sarah, where is she?”

“I--” Sarah-Ann started. “I have no idea.” She paused again, and Tedd could tell she was doing _something_ magical through his sight, but it was so far removed from what he was used to that he had no idea what. “She's not here. I'm the only soul in this body.”

“Are you sure.” Grace asked worriedly. “How do you know?” Tedd didn't want to admit it, but he was worried too. He knew as much about magic as just about anyone, and as far as he knew magic didn't ever affect the soul.

“Because I looked!” Sarah-Ann snapped. “I'm the only soul here. I'm possessing this body. But I'm in total control because there isn't another soul here to contest me.”

“Possessing?” Tedd worked to keep his voice calm, the ability to possess someone was very rare and on a scale of one to EVIL ranked pretty high up there. But making people angry wouldn't help anyone. He was also trying to ignore how tightly Grace was pressing into his side. She was much stronger then she looked.“You're possessing Sarah, how do you even know?”

Sarah-Ann threw up her hand's in frustration. “This isn't my first rodeo here. And it's not like I tried to do it! I'm the only soul here--” Sarah-Ann suddenly got a horrified look on her face. “Wait.” She closed her eyes, and in Tedd's sight she sort of... Diffused? “Okay. I think I can tell you what happened.” She took several deep breaths to steady herself. “Okay. Somehow, when I jumped in she was forced out. I don't know why. It shouldn't have happened. A soul _shouldn't_ leave its body like that. Maybe it had something to do with--” She shook her head. “Not important. What IS important is that there is only one path into this body and one path leading out.” She looked at the rest of them for a moment, expecting them to put the dots together, looking at faces that ranged from concerned to openly hostile, before giving up and continuing. “Which means she went out the same way I came in.” 

“So...” Ellen piped up. “Sarah's in your body?”

“And quite confused.” Sarah-Ann replied. “I'd bet money on it.”

“So what do we do about that?” Susan asked. “Last I checked, 'souls' are supposed to be difficult to move.”

“Yeah, except you're talking to a Warden.” Sarah-Ann replied with a superior smirk.

“A... What?” Susan arched her eyebrow.

“A Warden?” Sarah-Ann repeated the 'why-don't-you-know-this hand gesture again, Tedd was starting to get sick of it. “Seriously? None of you? Okay. Fine. Wardens are gatekeepers of interaction between the Real, Sidereal and the Spirit...” She took note of the blank looks everyone was giving her and backed up a bit. “The real world and the spirit one. We keep people safe and we keep spirits from getting out of hand. In mind and emotion souls and spirits are very similar, to the point where their differences are more a matter of philosophy than anything else. I'll just go out, get your Sarah and bring her back. At which point I should just snap back into my own body.”

“And how are you going to do that?” With her third question in a row Susan was starting to dominate the conversation. Normally Tedd would have loved to make a joke about that, but now didn't feel like the right time.

“Like so.” Sarah-Ann closed Sarah's eyes, and to Tedd's sight, began to diffuse again. There was a slim thread connected to her sternum, which he had thought was just a spiderweb, until it began to glow as she somehow focused herself into it.

“Huh, that's odd.” Sarah-Ann said as the glow faded and she opened her eyes. “There... Seems to be a problem.”

“As far as we can tell, you weren't doing anything.” Grace spoke up next to him.

“She was.” Tedd reassured her, and likely everyone else as well. “I could see it with my sight... But I have no idea what she was doing.”

“Okay, so,” She began when Tedd stopped. “the trail doesn't just end, but I can't go any further.” Sarah-Ann was snapping her fingers as she considered something. “Okay, this might sound weird, but do any of you know about multiple worlds?”

“The topic may have come up a time or two over the last year.” Susan replied, which was a criminal understatement.

“Okay. Okay. Good. At least I don't have to waste time on getting you to believe I'm not joking. Okay so he-”

“STOP SAYING 'OKAY'!” Nanase suddenly yelled.

“Hey, I'm nervous here too, red!” Sarah-Ann snapped back. Taking a moment to calm and center herself before replying. “Fine. All I need is for three or four of you to project along with me, I'll open the breach along the path and all you need to do is keep it open while I get your friend back.” She waved her hand around the room. “I'd gladly do it myself, but I can't seem to metabolize any this excess magic floating around.”

“Umm... What do you want us to do?” Grace asked.

“Are you telling me I am dealing with six sensitives, and none of you know how to project?” She looked at each of the faces before her.

“The. Rules. Are. Different. _HERE_.” Nanase's voice rose with every word. “We have no idea what you're talking about!”

The gravity of the situation dawned on Sarah-Ann as she looked back from face to face. “None of you?” Every single one shook their head. Sarah's face took on a defeated look and she turned around and kicked the corner of the chair beside her, _hard_ , before sinking into it. Sarah had not been wearing shoes but Sarah-Ann barely even winced at the pain. “Just... Just give me some time to think.”

“What are you going to do!?” Nanase yelled. For the first time Tedd actually turned to look at his cousin. Her face was red with anger and she was shaking her fist Sarah's way. “Sarah's alone out there!”

“Honey.” Ellen laid a hand on her girlfriend's arm. “You need to calm down.”

“Calm down!?” Nanase whirled on Ellen. “Without Sarah you and I might have never even gotten together!”

“Don't you think I know that?” Ellen replied quietly but firmly. Before placing her hands on Nanase's shoulders. “But yelling is isn't going to help anyone here. Give her some time to think.”

“I think I have a plan.” Sarah-Ann piped up from her chair, Tedd noted that she did not sound nearly as confident as she did before.

“The plan is wait for my uncle. He'll sort this out.” Nanase spit back.

“We can't” Sarah-Ann-in-Sarah stood. “The path is fading fast. Following it is easy while it's still there and I think I have a way to force it open. But I wont have anything to follow once it's gone.”

“And just what are you going to do?” Nanase shot back angrily.

Sarah-Ann waved her arms around her head, turning a full circle as she spoke. “There's magic here, it's everywhere. The air literally sings there's so much. I just can't metabolize it, I don't know if that's because I'm exhausted, or if it's because of something that happened to me during the journey, or that it's just to different from what I'm used to. Whatever the reason I can't access it. If I can't win by playing fair, I'll do the next best thing. Cheat. I'm fairly sure we I can use what we have on hand in order to set up a ritual to give me what I need. I'm unable to metabolize all this energy around me. What I CAN do, however, is metabolize energy that you all put off. That's what I did when that blond guy-” She suddenly cut herself and looked at Justin. “I'm sorry, what's your name?”

“Huh?” Justin asked, as he realized he was the focal point of the room. “Umm, Justin.”

Sarah-Ann continued. “Justin, Right. When Justin did whatever he did to make his hands glow he was pumping out a lot of excess juice, I just siphoned that away until his spell faded...”

Tedd had dealt with a lot of magic in his life. If what Sarah-Ann was telling them was true, the magic she used had several rules local magic didn't. It also was much more personal and much less flashy than he was used to. He also wondered if perhaps it did something to brain chemistry, Sarah-Ann's actions were rapidly growing frantic, borderline manic.

“Okay!” She clapped her hands together, making him realize he hadn't been listening. “This is delicate, I'm going to try to rely heavily on the Law of Sympathy for this, that would likely be to distracting.”

“What would?” Tedd whispered to his girlfriend.

“Just throwing spells her way.” Grace whispered back.

“So what I need” Sarah-Ann continued. “are the three of you who know her best.”

“She's been my best friend for years.” Susan spoke up. “I probably know her better than anyone here.”

“Good, good. Who else?”

Tedd spared a glance at Ellen, but she had her arms crossed and was looking conspicuously away, so he raised his hand. “I've known her almost as long as Susan. And Grace and I” He squeezed his girlfriend a little tighter for emphasis. “spent nearly every day last summer working together with her.” Grace nodded along with him. Tedd didn't feel the need to mention they were working on magical theory, he honestly had no idea if that would help or hinder, but he was tired of being left behind while his more powerful friends solved every problem.

  


Nanase was furious. She could live with being blindsided by someone who shouldn't be able to fight. She could even kind of live with her friend being possessed, since this 'whoever' seemed to be trying to help. But they were just so arrogant about it. Nanase was an extremely powerful Awakened, both in talent and in raw power. Tedd had the ability to see and instinctively understand magic. Every single person in the room with Sarah-Ann had a lot of experience under their belts, and she was talking down to them all like they were all children.

To make matters worse, Nanase couldn't help. She hated not being able to help. Even more then the condescending attitude. Even more then the hypo-manic mood swings. She was so used to her power being able to solve nearly any problem that came her way that she felt like she was going to explode just standing there and listening to this 'person' talk. And to top everything else off, she wasn't even one of the people that would be able to help in the ritual.

“Okay.” Sarah-Ann said, waiving her arms around the room they were all standing in. “We need everything electronic out of the room. All the furniture needs to be pushed to the sides. Don't break anything electronic to remove it. I'd rather deal with a little electromagnetism then the symbolism of a broken wire jutting in through the circle. You, you and you” pointing suddenly at Ellen, Justin and Nanase as she stepped from the family room into the dining room. “Make that happen. You three.” She motioned towards Tedd, Grace and Susan while pulling off her shirt. “Come here and strip.”

Everyone, Nanase included, stopped and stared at her. But it was Susan who first spoke up. “What did you say?”

“You heard me.” 'Ann', Nanase wasn't going to call her Sarah anymore, was fighting with the clasp of her bra, before realizing the whole thing was elastic and slipping it over her head. “No clothes. Unless you have freshly washed pure linen, cotton or felt robes ready to go, nude is by far our best bet.”

“And just _how_ are you planning on gathering this energy from them that way?” Nanase asked quietly as she unplugged the TV.

Not quietly enough it seems. “It's not Tantric.” She replied as she slid down her pants and panties in one go. “I'm my tradition... My _style_ of magic. I'm relying on connections established with people that know her well to set up sympathetic connections and create feedback loops to make greater use of ambient energy, as well as to establish a deeper connection and focus within the other participants” She rattled off like she had practiced it. “Normally I'd be worried about possible interference from cross-tradition magic, not to mention whatever situation we seem to be in right now.” Off went the socks. “But, by keeping you three as assistants and foci in the ritual rather than active participants I should be able to mitigate that entirely.” She stood before then, hands on her hips, seemingly unconcerned that she was now nude in a house full of what were essentially strangers.

Tedd and Grace looked at each other. Tedd shrugged and then started to undress. “I have no idea what she's doing.” He said as he unbuckled his belt. “But she wasn't lying. About the connection I mean, it's only going to last a few more minutes. Ten, fifteen tops. If we're going to do something we have to do it now.”

“I'll help” Grace replied, tugging at her shirt as 'Ann' went to close the curtains. Nanase was pretty sure that is something that should have been done _before_ getting naked. “Are you sure this is going to work though? I mean, what are the actual chances this is going to work?”

'Ann' had been running on bravado for the last several minutes, semi-manic as she prepared for... Whatever she was doing. Grace's questions gave her pause, cracks showing in her facade of confidence. “Without you all... One in twenty. With your help” She looked at everyone then looked down at the floor and shrugged. “Fifty-Fifty.”

Everyone looked around at that, they had all stopped what they were doing. They had all been following along as 'Ann' told them what to do, but the admission that there was a large chance this wasn't going to work took the wind out of everyone's sails. Ann just stood there, arms crossed in front of her body, saying nothing. The moments stretched on longer and no one said a word. It was Ellen who finally broke the silence.

“You can do this.” She said, pointing at 'Ann.' “The day I was born I thought I only had a month to live. All I could think about was how I was going to lose everyone important in my life. I already thought I lost her once. I am not losing her now.” She hefted the overstuffed chair by herself and set it down away from the middle of the room. “You do whatever you have to. You can bring her back.”

Nanase didn't mention it, and Ellen would hate to admit it, but that was exactly the kind of thing Elliot would say. She may try to distance herself from the brother she was copied from, but she kept a lot of his good parts.

And just like that the pall was broken, everyone going back to their assigned tasks. Ann had mentioned her magic dealt heavily in emotion, Nanase wondered if that had something to do with everyone's willingness to help. As she bent down to pick up a couch she decided that it didn't matter. She didn't trust this Ann, but she did trust Tedd and Tedd said to go along with her.

“Excuse me,” Susan asked Ann as Justin helped heft the couch out of the way. Ann had her head out between the curtains looking at... something. Susan was topless, and had already taken off her socks, but had not yet divested herself of her pants. Nanase and Justin maneuvered the last table out of sight into the front hall, but she could still hear them.

“What is it?” Ann replied, distracted by... whatever.

Rather then couch the terms in euphemism Susan was as direct as she ever was. “My period began four days ago, I am still spotting. You mentioned the ritual you are attempting being delicate, will that be a problem?”

“Why would that be a problem?” Ann asked. “It's biology. My tradition isn't Confucianist or particularly Abrahamic. If I were a Fluffy-Bunny or one of a couple branches of Wicca that would even be helpful- Say, what month is it?” She asked, once again abruptly changing gears.

After everything she had seen in the last ten minutes it seems Susan took it in stride. “February.”

“Uh-huh, and we're in the Northern Hemisphere?”

“Yes.”

“Good, good. Get those off. We're about ready to start.”

Ellen, Justin and herself had vacated the dining room and family room to give the rest privacy to undress. Not that doing so mattered now. The four involved in the ritual walked back into the room. Every single one of them fully nude. Only Susan seemed particularly uncomfortable, but as Nanase learned with her in France, Susan had always been good at suppressing her emotions and doing what needed to be done. Unfortunately Nanase was also far to preoccupied to enjoy the impromptu game of 'Who Shaves?'

“Alright.” Ann began. “Once I begin, no one can enter or exit the room. In layman's terms I will be bending the wards of this house around the room to create a focus for the ritual. If anyone crosses that line once I begin the whole thing will unravel.” The 'and you will never see your friend again' went unspoken.

Ann then stood there in the middle of the room, her arms outstretched. No one else moved. The moments dragged on. Dimly Nanase was aware that she had yet to actually see anything happen. It was possible this was all a joke. If it was then her cousin was in on it, and the it was not funny.

Ann's breathing began to be more intense, she creased her brow in effort and hooked her fingers as if grabbing something. The house around everyone gave a groan. What visible muscles Sarah's body had began straining with effort to bring her hand's together. As she moved the air was filled with the sounds of glass scraping glass and the bending of springs. Beads of sweat from exertion began to trickle down Sarah's body, her half lidded eyes showing only white. When her hands finally touched she paused for a moment until there was a boom like that of a heavy lock settling. Only then did she allow her arms to drop to her side, breathing heavily.

Tedd, the only one of them who could see magic, looked around in awe. “Whoa.”

“Right,” She said, after a moment of catching her breath. “From now on, no one in or out. Not until I'm done... Okay,” She said in the way Nanase found infuriating while turning towards Tedd, Grace and Susan. “You three rank yourselves, who knows her the best?”

Nanase watched as Susan shrugged. “She's been my best friend for years.”

Grace spoke next. “I just met her a year ago, but Tedd's known her almost as long as Susan.”

“Okay, good. I can work with that. You-- She paused, facing Susan. “I'm sorry, I know it was just said, but I have a lot on my mind and I didn't catch your name.”

“Susan.” Susan replied.

“Good, yes, right. You stand here” She said, directing Susan to a spot near the center of the room. “in the east. Grace, you stand over there in the west. Tedd you stand in the south... There.”

“Who's standing in the north?” Tedd asked.

“No one.” Ann replied, looking up at him as she sat between the three. “The north is for the dead.” She took a few moments, Nanase hoped to collect herself, then lay down on her back, her head facing north. “From you three I need you to look at me, I need you to think of your Sarah. The memories you have. What she talks like, what she sounds like. I need you to repeat her name, you don't have to be perfectly in unison but do not become discordant. And whatever you do; Do. Not. Stop. For those of you outside this room, please try not to interrupt.”

“Should I watch?” Tedd asked. “With my intuition?”

Ann cracked an eye to look at him. “Knock yourself out, just don't let it interrupt.”

The house settled into an odd quiet. Ann's breathing slowed, arms to her side, taking long breaths. Eyes closed. Only the quiet repeating of Sarah's name, mostly in unison, and the occasional mumble from Sarah's body could be heard.

“ _Sarah-h Sarah Sarah Sarah_ ”

“where are you... where?”

“ _Sarah Sarah S-Sarah Sarah_ ”

“where... where...” Her voice suddenly became more distinct. “Oh, dear.”

“ _Sarah Sarah_ ”

“Not whom I was expecting to see. A pleasure none the less.”

“ _Sarah S-Sarah_ ”

“So it is.”

“ _Sarah Sarah_ ”

“Actually, I've come for that right there.”

“ _Sarah Sarah_ ”

“I'm sorry. But it doesn't belong to you.”

“ _Sarah Sarah_ ”

“If you insist.”

Tedd's eyes went wide and he took a step back and instant before Ann screamed, arching her back. In a matter of seconds a livid red welt opened up from her left shoulder to her right hip.

Nanase had to do something, she couldn't just stand there. Her friend was- might be- dying. Ellen laid a hand on her arm before she could move. “Sarah-Ann said if we enter the room we'll disrupt the ritual.”

“Well what am I supposed to do?” She snapped back. Sarah's body had begun convulsing so fiercely that her shoulders and head were slamming against the floor. Screaming again as her right shoulder and part of her face rapidly discolored in an ugly purple bruise. Her eyes were wide open as the shocks rocked through her body, several of the blood vessels in her right eye had burst. Glaring at the archway Nanase felt as if she had lost her magic all over again. There are threats, there are real threats. They are right there, but an invisible force is keeping her out. Keeping her away from where she can do any good.

At some point during her convulsions 'Sarah' had badly bitten her tongue or her cheek; or at least Nanase hoped that was the case. The teeth of Sarah's body were stained pink, her face and chest were being speckled with blood as she alternated between deep wracking coughs and rapid strained gasps, her body struggling for any breath it could get.

“She's dying...” Nanase whispered.

“We don't know that.” Ellen replied softly, but there was no confidence in her voice.

“Did anybody ask what would happen if the ritual failed?” Justin asked from behind them. Ellen looked at Nanase and Nanase looked right back. Neither answered the question, nor were they positive they knew what would happen. But they were both pretty sure they were looking at it. After several agonizing minutes there was no more fight left in Sarah's form, her body lay gasping for tiny amounts of breath. More welts had opened up on Sarah's body, down her left side and across both legs, several which were weeping blood. She shuddered then lay still.

For several seconds no one moved. Tedd, Susan and Grace were exchanging glances, their chanting had long since stopped. Ellen, Justin and Nanase held their breath. There was an outline in the air above Sarah, a coalescing mist taking the shape of an androgynous humanoid figure kneeling over her. Sarah opened her eyes and took a ragged breath, bringing her hands up to her face and looking around the room.

“Am I home?”

  


Sarah would be asked, later on, about what it was like coming back. She could only reply that her everything hurt. There was a deep bone ache, there was the fire of her overtaxed muscled, there was the acid that had burned its way up her throat, there was the pressure that held her head in a vice, there was the sharp jabbing pain from welts and bruises... But all of that was only separated out in retrospect. At the time she only knew that she hurt. What she would rarely tell, and what few people would ever know, was the confusion she felt when she first got back. Her mind had been connected, intimately, with another as she- they- escaped the beast that was holding her, before being separated out again when she returned. She would recall looking down at herself in the instant before she opened her eyes for the rest of her life.

“I hurt.” She whispered quietly. She knew other people in the room were talking, but only a single voice cut through the haze in her mind.

 **Psycho-Stigmata, and a very hasty ritual.** Came the voice in her head. No, that wasn't right. She heard it in her head, but it came from the gray, mist-like, face kneeling over her's. The face had no features save for a pair of sliver eyes. **I'm sorry. I tried to shield you from the worst of it. What you have isn't dangerous, you should feel better in a day or two.**

Tedd was trying to help her sit, but she waved him off. He instead kneeled by her shoulder, her hand clasped in his, curling their fingers together. She was dimly aware of Grace next to him. He was saying something, but his words were still confusing to her sluggish mind. “How can I hear you?” She asked. “I can hear you in my head.”

“Sarah. I'm just talking to you.” Tedd replied.

 **We were connected.** The thing- woman, it was a woman- replied. **I have left a part of the connection open. If I drop it I do not know if I will be able to establish it again.**

“I was talking to her.” Sarah said, managing to point at the figure with her free hand.

“Can you ask her why she hasn't left yet?” It was Grace this time. “She said she was going to be gone as soon as you came back.”

**I can hear them just fine. And I have not left-... There are-... I had some things to finish before I left.**

“She can hear you just fine.” Sarah told them. “And she's a bad liar.” 

“What do you mean?” Tedd asked. The figure remained silent, closing its eyes so that not even a slit of silver could be seen.

“When we were connected. When you were bringing me back.” She told the figure. “I saw as you saw. There were two of you. You were still in your body.”

The figure slumped her shoulders, eyes still closed. **I don't know what happened. I don't know how. I don't know why. I'm just a copy of her, an imprint left in clay. There are spells which can do that. Rare spells. Dangerous ones. Improper magic at its height. I wouldn't be able to go back even if I wanted to.** She opened her silver eyes and looked at Sarah. **So I did what I promised I would, I brought you home.**

“She...” Sarah began, working to form her words. Fading flashes of insight from their connection giving her more to work with then Sarah-Ann had provided. “There's magic, her kind, Something hit her hard. But she was to strong for it. It formed, like, an imprint of her and continued off into the void.” Sarah began coughing from the exertion of talking, lacking the strength to protest when Tedd wiped her mouth off after, and continued as soon as she was able. “She has all of her memories, everything that made her herself. But she has no body, no anchor. If not for the wards around the house she'd be blown away.”

“What is she going to do?” Grace asked.

She shook her head. **I don't know. For now I am going to try to dismantle the circle I set up so the wards aren't so tightly wound. And so that people can come in and out of this room again. That should give me some time to breathe. Beyond that, I don't know.**

Sarah looked up at the figure and smiled a sad smile. She reached up to touch Sarah-Ann, to re-assure her, but her hand encountered nothing in the mist. Dimly she was aware of a commotion from somewhere else in the house, but her mind could only focus on one thing at a time. “You brought me back. You fought Kupeltec when he wouldn't give me up. You designed a ritual from scratch to pierce the walls between worlds. I'm sure you can find a way.” She wasn't even aware the Sarah-Ann was no longer listening.

**DON'T CROSS THAT-**

Sarah would be told later that Agent Wolf, Justin's hand on his arm, has stepped into the room. At the time she was only aware of a sound like the snapping of a guitar string. One more felt then heard. A second later Sarah-Ann was launched away from her, pinned against the far wall by a wind only she could feel. Through their connection Sarah was aware that the wards around the house had begun to unravel, and were rapidly falling apart. Shunting their tightly controlled energy to the void. The entire building creaked and groaned from the strain, the air itself filled with the sounds like the crumbling of stone and the snapping of wire.

“Stop it!” Sarah heard Grace yell, struggling to be heard over the collapsing of the wards. “Help her!”

“I don't know how!” Tedd yelled back.

Sarah-Ann was screaming, pleading in her head before dropping the link entirely. Sections of her were being abraded away, like watching a sculpture being sand-blasted on fast-forward. Alchemical and mathematical symbols spreading out along the wall as whatever she was made out of interacted with the collapsing wards. “Nooo...” Sarah croaked, reaching for the shimmering figure. She knew- she had been connected- she remembered- Oblivion. No one deserved that fate. Everything that made Sarah-Ann herself was being obliterated, and without an anchor there was nothing anyone could do to stop it.

Then the wards collapsed in earnest, the whole house shuddering as the last whipcords of power arced away. What was left of the gray mist collapsed to the ground; somehow in the maelstrom some part of her soul had succeeded in finding an anchor. The mist began to dissipate, drifting into nothing as another figure solidified underneath it. Inside of the dissipating mist was a young woman, she had anchored herself to herself.

Sarah-Ann's body wracked itself with coughs as she tried to fill her lungs with air. Whatever she had done had left her badly malnourished, almost dangerously so, making her age difficult to determine. “It worked!” She managed to gasp out between coughs, rolling over to face Sarah, and everyone else, as she did so. Her face was to plain to be called pretty, to angular to be called cute, but her bright coppery-red hair would make her stand out in a crowd. She closed her eyes and sobbed, her hair covering much of her face. “I can't- I can't believe it worked.”


	3. Living Situation

Sarah looked up from her bed as she clutched her mother tightly. “Mommy, sometimes I dream things about people, things they haven't told me.”

“I know, baby.” Her mother replied, smoothing out her bed head in the way parents have since the dawn of time.

“There are bad people in those dreams too. They tell me other things.” Her mother sat her up and pulled Sarah into her lap, their long red hair mixing together as Sarah's mother lay her head aside her own.

“That's just something you and I have to deal with.”

The words were echoing in Sarah's ears as she opened her eyes. The clock around her said it was nearly midnight. The room was empty, her parents had gone home hours ago.

 

 

Ann sat in a metal chair and lay her head upon the table, pulling her robe tighter over the new scrubs. She was not having the best of days. She sat in a featureless eight by ten room, and had done so for several hours. Perhaps surprisingly she was not having an existential crisis, if only because there were to many crises in front of it already in line. Her current issues were being so tired she could barely move, and so hungry she couldn't think. The tired was understandable, she was the sole practitioner powering an entire ritual in which she couldn't use any ambient power, she fought- well, ran- from Kupeltec in rescuing their Sarah. After which she managed to create a whole body for herself from scratch, save the fingernail on her right ring finger, in the few seconds she had before the wards around that house had collapsed entirely. That last one was a desperation ploy, she never actually expected it to work. Magic here seemed to be much less cruel then she was used to.

That last part also lead into her second issue. She was famished. Once the wards had begun to collapse she metabolized the energy they were releasing, channeling them into making her body to anchor herself to, but the power ran out before she was done. Yet her body still attempted to keep growing on what little power it could, burning through the few physical reserves she had been able to build. The doctors examining her were seriously concerned about the possibility of refeeding syndrome if they just let her eat. Wherever she was now wasn't an actual hospital, though, so she ate whatever they had on hand. They had given her egg whites and a little bit of bacon, then more egg whites and some oatmeal a few hours after. That was going to be it until sometime later.

She had been questioned by Agent Wolf and two others on three different occasions. Once at the house where she caught herself from oblivion, twice more here. Wolf, to his credit, seemed genuinely uncomfortable that he has crossed the circle. Ann still had no idea if she should be mad at him or not. There was something important she had told them, and something else she still had to tell, but for the life of her she couldn't remember either right now.

It was still some time later when the door opened again. It wasn't Wolf this time, or anyone she had been introduced to before. Maybe she'd seen him at the house, but she couldn't recall. He was short, maybe 5'4, graying hair, a bushy mustache and a pair of mirrored square spectacles perched on his rather large nose. “Ms. Mattox.” He began, placing a folder on the table and moving to take a seat across from her. “Do you remember who I am?”

She was to tired too lift her head from the table, so she didn't bother when she honestly shook her head in the negative, so he continued. “I am Agent Verres. I am the head of Paranormal Diplomacy in this agency. That makes you my problem.”

Ann could not think of a single substantial thing to say in reply, so she simply shrugged. “Yeah.”

“You caused a hell of a stir when you arrived. Do you have any idea where you were?” Again she shook her head no.

“I suppose it's not important if you knew.” He continued. “I will let you know that I have spent the last several hours going over what happened according to the seven young adults who were there with you, including Sarah, whom you possessed and then apparently rescued from some form of being.” He paused until Ann nodded. “There are still, however, several questions that only you can answer. I would like to go over them with you.”

She sighed and pushed her upper body off of the table, something that was much harder then it should have been, and looked at him with eyes glazed over in exhaustion. “I'll answer whatever I can.”

“Good.” He replied. “First, did you intend to possess Sarah?”

“No.” She shook her head for a moment, then paused. “Well, yes, I attempted to save myself. But I had no idea what was actually happening until after the fact.”

“Alright. Next question; do you have any knowledge as to why you were able to possess her?”

She shook her head again. “No, I've never done that before. I couldn't even give you a hypothesis as to why at this moment.”

Agent Verres nodded. He wasn't taking any notes, he was simply looking at her as he spoke and as she answered. “Very well. You have mentioned, and demonstrated, magic we are not familiar with, as well as describing several laws and rules. Could you give me a run down of those now?”

“There's...” She began, her mind struggling with complex concepts. “The Law of Symmetry. Like affects like. There's... There's the Law of Belief. Magic can't happen without belief, that's why machines can't do it. There's the Hierarchy of Souls...” She trailed off, attempting to remember more for several moments. “And stuff like this, my making a body, I mean, and physical changes... They're almost unheard of. Dangerous. Biology does not like being messed with. We focus on the... You know. The Spirit.” She sighed and pressed her palms to her eyes, rubbing harshly. “I'm sorry. This is too complicated for me right now.”

He nodded. “That's alright. We can come back to it at a later time. You say physical changes are dangerous. Can I infer from that statement that shape changers are rare where you come from?"

"Very. I don't know of anyone who has successfully changed shape more then a handful of times, and most people who try don't even succeed once."

He nodded again, folding his hands together in front of him. "And what can you tell me of the being that was holding Sarah?”

“A lot. His name is Kupeltec. He is 'The Scourge Of The Seven Tribes'. He's old, and very powerful...” She trailed off, attempting to organize her thoughts. “He was... an Incarnation of famine, I think. Or maybe natural disasters. Either way he's grown far beyond that. When Sarah was forced out of her body, she followed the path I had taken, but she hit my body and bounced off. Kupeltec grabbed her.”

“And you know this Kupeltec?”

“Yes, I'd dealt with him before. The person I am-” Ann sighed and closed her eyes. “The person I am imprinted off of is a very powerful Warden. One of the few around that could stand against Kupeltec alone. She'd done it before. But I'm just an Imprint. A Figment. Just a fully formed one so far as I can tell. All the memories, most of the skills, but none of the power.”

“And were you aware of the differences between yourself and her by the time you encountered this 'spirit'?”

“Yes.”

“And, in your opinion, when you challenged Kupeltec to rescue Sarah, would you have been able to win that fight?”

“No.”

“Could Kupeltec have killed you?”

“Yes.”

“I am told you spoke with the being you call Kupeltec for quite some time before hostilities began. If he is so dangerous, why did he not simply attack you to begin with?”

“Because there are rules.” She yawned, and used the time to compose the thoughts in her muddled brain. “You can't just attack someone, that's very bad form. There's-... They have etiquette to follow. If you act like a wild beast you'll be put down like one. I didn't have any claim to Sarah, but neither did he, other then possession of her soul. I had nothing to trade, no leverage to establish a bargain...” She trailed off and looked at the man across from her. “Why do you call her Sarah?”

“I'm sorry?” Mr. Verres asked, thrown off by the sudden switching of gears.

“You call her Sarah. Agent Wolf is 'Agent Wolf', I'm 'Ms. Mattox'. But she's 'Sarah'.”

Agent Verres leaned back in his chair, looking at her thoughtfully. “I suppose you're likely to find out anyways. Sarah Brown is a friend of the family. I have known her for quite some time. Earlier I mentioned you caused quite a stir when you arrived. By that I mean you caused a personal stir for myself, and by extension every paranormal agency in the region.”

“Oh.” She replied. That had the potential to be bad.

Bad or not, he didn't seem to dwell on the matter. “Agent Wolf informed me you told him of 'fragments of souls' that followed you through. Can you expand more on that?”

In a sudden moment of clarity, she recalled that was part of the thing she couldn't remember shortly before he had walked in earlier. “Right... When I- when Kupeltec and I fought, there was backlash. Several Figments were blown through the portal. They're like... They're echos, boggans. Most aren't even fully formed spirits. The few that are aren't a threat. But they have the potential to become so.” Ann yawned and rubbed her eyes. “Clearing them out is like Warden 101.”

“I think that can wait. You said we had time, months, years even, before they would become an issue. Can you think of anything else which you need to share at this time?”

She nodded. “Yes- well, maybe.” She held up her right hand. “The missing nail. It could be nothing, but that nail was traded as a token to seal a bargain. It grew back,” she looked down at her hand. “on my real body. But the fact that it's missing now might mean I'm still holding the debt.”

“And could someone come calling on this debt?”

She shrugged. “Maybe. Holding the token would give him the connection he needed to find me.”

“And if he comes through?” Verres asked.

“I pay the-” her speech was interrupted by a yawn. “I pay the debt.” Something important was nagging in her mind, something about crossing barriers and about Kupeltec. She suddenly looked up. “Oh! One more thing. That house I showed up in. I need to live there. For the next year at the very least.”

“No.” Agent Verres said flatly. “Absolutely not. Your housing has already been decided.”

“This isn't an 'I want to', this is an 'I have to'.” Ann replied.

Agent Verres crossed his arms and looked at her. “And your reasoning for this?”

“Kupeltec might try to follow the path I took. He hates to lose. I know whoever lives there probably isn't fond of me, I wouldn't be font of me either. But if he decides to try to follow he'll need some sort of connection and he doesn't have a direct one to me. He'll most likely be drawn to the site of the ritual, possibly to Sarah.” She pressed her palms into her eyes before continuing. “Most spirits couldn't hurt anyone in the Real or the Sidereal if they wanted to, but Kupeltec is an exception. He is very, very powerful. I doubt he'll be able to metabolize the excess power here, just like I can't, so he'd only be able to stay for a limited time. But he could do a lot of damage before then.”

Agent Verres leaned forward, resting his chin on his knuckles. “Why a year? And if Kupeltec were to come through could you successfully confront him here?”

Ann shook her head. “No. If Kupeltec comes through I am probably going to die. But he is very large, it will take him time to breach the barriers, and it will be noticeable. I can at the very least use that time to occlude the traces of anything else he might be interested in. As to the time frame, connections grow cold over time. If he's coming through he'll only have a year to do it, likely less.”

“And you are offering to do something so patently dangerous, because...?” He asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I have no family here. I have no job. I have no life. I also have nothing to return to.” She leaned forward to indicate her seriousness. “If Kupeltec comes through at the site of the ritual, where the barriers have already been breached, he could be through in just a couple of hours. Anywhere else would take a day at least. That's why I have to stay at that house...” She looked him right in the eye. “All I have left to me, all I have at all, is my identity. I am a Warden. This is what I do.”

“What you have told me is... Troubling news. It will be taken under consideration.”

 

 

“That's not funny.” Elliot was sitting up in her bed, having already shifted female for the night by the time Ellen came home.

“I know. That's why I'm not laughing.” Ellen flumped down on her bed with a scowl.

“Why didn't anyone ever call me?” Elliot frowned, hands on her hips. “This happened, what? Eight hours ago, nine?” The frowning was a bad sign, Elliot normally liked to keep a tight grip on her negative emotions.

Elliot was upset, as Ellen was worried she'd be. Still, she'd had her reasons for not calling. “You were on a date. I know you, you don't date. How would it look if twice in three weeks you'd of had to turn to Ashley and tell her 'I have to go again?'” She held up her hand before Elliot could say anything. “And there was also nothing you could do. There was nothing _any of us_ could do. At first everything was just happening so fast and literally the instant that was over the whole thing had already been taken out of our hands. If there had been anything you could have done we would have been blowing up your phone.” She shrugged, kicking her foot against the carpet. “And I didn't want to worry you.”

“I'm an adult, Ellen.” Elliot' frown deepened into a scowl as she let hr upper body drop back onto the bed. “Let me decide for myself if I should be worried or not.”

Ellen hadn't been thinking when she didn't inform Elliot during the entire day. In retrospect Ellen knew she should have expected this. Elliot had an overdeveloped protective instinct, especially where it concerned her relatively un-powered friends. “Elliot, I-”

“Save it.” Her sibling cut her off, rolling over to face the wall.

Ellen felt terrible. What's worse is she felt she didn't even have any right to be upset. She'd of been just as mad if Elliot hadn't called her. To top it all off her sibling wasn't good at dealing with negative emotions. The fact that Elliot wasn't just upset, but was acting downright pissy, meant that she was genuinely hurt. The minutes stretched on and Ellen lay down in her bed, not knowing what to say. Finally she let out a soft “I'm sorry.”

“I know.” Elliot replied with a sigh, still facing the wall. . “It's just... What if that dragon last summer had been sent after Tedd, or mom and dad, instead of me? I can take that kind of thing, Ellen. So can you. Nanase, Grace, Justin, Greg... But not them. I try not to show it, but I worry about them. A lot.”

“So do I.” She glanced over to find Elliot partially rolled over in order and already looking back at her. “I actually thought I was helping at the time.”

Elliot rolled back over to face her sister. “So what about this person, you told me that she went with Mr. Verres.” Her anger was gone, there wasn't anything in her voice but a hint of tiredness.

Ellen was worried that her sibling got over her anger too quickly. She was forcing it back down into the background like she always did, but Ellen knew that bringing that up wouldn't help. “She went with Agent Wolf, and a couple of others I'd never met before. Mr. Verres told us that he'd be questioning her before he left.”

“And you're sure Sarah's alright?”

“Ann said she should be... So far as we can trust her word.” she shrugged. “The EMTs said there wasn't a lot wrong with her that they could find, beside the obvious. Still, she's going to be in the hospital for a few days to be sure.”

“Good.” Elliot replied. “We should go visit her. What's the cover story?”

“Car accident.” Elliot raised an eyebrow. “It's not very convincing, but it only has to be more plausible then 'stigmata from when she was rescued by the dimension hopping soul of the witch that was currently possessing her body.'” Explanations regarding the supernatural were often far-fetched, but normally they only needed to be the more-plausible option.

Neither spoke for a long while, both of them just laying there until Elliot broke the silence. “I'm going to go visit her tomorrow.”

“I knew you would.” Ellen replied.

 

 

Tedd was awoken by the sound of the key in the lock. Yesterday had been a nightmare. Sarah had been taken to the hospital, everyone else had been questioned several times, by dad and by two other agents. By the time everything got settled down it was well after eleven PM. Dad was so freaked out about everything that had happened and the lack of wards around the house that he stationed a pair of agents to watch the place in a car outside. When everything was said and done, and everyone else had gone home, she and Grace were far to wound up to sleep. To be more comfortable Tedd had decided to morph female, while Grace had shifted into her natural furry self. Together they spent the next several hours cuddling on the couch. Somewhere along the way they had both fallen asleep.

“Hi, dad.” She called out, standing up and stretching, noting the hints of dawn coming in through the curtains and not bothering to shift male. Her dad often disapproved of the amount of time she spent as a woman, but she was an adult and she did not care.

“Did you get any sleep at the office?” She asked, turning around. It wasn't her dad who had come in, it was the red haired woman who possessed Sarah. “What the hell!?” She exclaimed.

“Umm, hi?” Ann replied.

“What's going on?” Grace asked as she sat up and looked over the back of the couch, smoothing her ruffled fur with a hand.

“What the hell!?” Ann exclaimed.

“I realize now,” Mr. Verres said, stepping inside and closing and re-locking the door behind him. “That I forgot to mention to you that my son, well, my child, and their girlfriend are both shapeshifters.”

Tedd watched as Ann stared at her father, eyes glazed and jaw slack in exhaustion. Ann then looked back to herself and Grace. Then back to dad before speaking. “Fuck it. I'm too tired for this. I'm going to bed.”

 

 

Somewhere along the way Ann realized she was awake. She was aware of the dryness in her throat, of the deep bone ache and of the vice that was tightened around her head. Opening her eyes was a chore, one she couldn't yet bear, so she lay in the dark mustering the strength to move. It was several minutes before she could open her eyes and when she did she saw the clock near her head read one AM. She had been asleep nearly nineteen hours.

She tried sitting up once, but the protest inside her skull made her reconsider. It was several long moments before she could bring herself to try again. The second time she began more slowly. Gently, gingerly, leveraging herself into something resembling upright, before pausing to take stock of her situation. She was on a couch in the Verres house. Basement. Right, she was in the basement. This was the same couch she had been sitting on when she possessed Sarah yesterday... The day before yesterday at this point.

Beside her was a folding end table. On the end table were a glass of water and a covered plate. The top of the cover have a note which read: ' _eat this when you wake up'_. Lifting the cover she found three pieces of buttered toast, three strips of bacon and scrambled egg whites. The food had gone cold hours ago, she ate it all anyway, barely pausing even to take a breath she was so hungry. Once the food was gone she sat, sipping the water and taking stock of her situation... Also and to wonder what was up with this place and breakfast food.

So far she knew she was in cheap scrubs, no other clothes, in a body that surprisingly wasn't a misshapen cancer-riddled mess. The house was owned by the head of the paranormal... something she struggled to recall. She couldn't remember if his children were actually shapeshifters or if she had just dreamed that one.

Clutching her water she stood up and made her way up the stairs. The stairs let out into the kitchen. In the kitchen was a fridge, which she made her way over towards as fast as her unsteady legs would allow. Opening the fridge she was confronted by a pair of notes. The first was attached to another glass of water and read ' _drink this as soon as you wish_ ' the second was attached to another covered plate and read ' _do not eat this until at least three hours after your most recent meal.'_ She downed the remains of her first glass of water and grabbed the second, scowling at the note on the covered plate as she closed the door. She was SO hungry. Stupid doctors. Stupid refeeding syndrome. Stupid local magic. Stupid funny-tasting water...

She supposed the water she was given had vitamins added, which would account for the funny taste. But to be honest it could be laced with heroin and cyanide and she'd drink it anyway, if only to help quell the emptiness in her stomach. As she stood there sipping at the second glass of water, that she realized someone was coming down the stairs.

She felt them as much as heard them. She looked down into the front hall, somewhere along the way someone had put the furniture that had cluttered it up back into the family room. They were already near the bottom of the stairs. Most people would just be a background noise, but unshielded practitioners were like a pressure inside of her head. Some were naturally louder than others, but no one around here seemed to even bother trying to be quiet.

It was Tedd's father, the elder Verres. He had wrapped himself in a bathrobe and did not seem surprised to see her standing in his kitchen. She opened her mouth to greet him, but no sound came out, she coughed a few times to clear her throat and tried again. Even then it was barely a whisper. “Mr. Verres.”

“Ms. Mattox.” He replied, stopping in the doorway from the front hall. He was shorter than her by almost three inches, barely coming up the the level of her eyes. “You slept a long time.”

“I did. Exhaustion. Thanks for the food.” She whispered, trying to clear her throat again.

“I am being reimbursed by the government.” He did not act unhappy towards her, but he was very businesslike in his manner. “This is your third day, you'll be allowed seventeen hundred calories. Tomorrow, Monday, you'll be given a check-up, and assuming that goes well you'll be increased to somewhere between three thousand and thirty five hundred calories a day until you get back up to a manageable weight. Do you have any dietary restrictions you neglected to mention?” She shook her head. “Good. Later today, if you are capable, I'll have you taken out to see about getting some clothes. This will be paid for by yourself. So long as you are living here you are semi-officially hired as a consultant for my office. You will receive a small paycheck every other week. The majority of that money will be taken out for food and lodging. Any clothes or personal items you require will have to be paid for out of the remainder. Due to special circumstances you have been granted a small advance with which to purchase whatever clothes and other necessities you might need right now.”

She considered sipping her water to clear her throat again before settling for replying in a whisper. “Thank you. How is Sarah?”

“Ms. Brown is doing well. All of her injuries, her 'Psycho-Stigmata', seemed to be superficial. She was only kept by the doctors at all as a precaution, and will be released from the hospital later today.”

Ann nodded, whispering. “They're rarely dangerous, and I kept her from the worst of it.”

“So you say.” he replied. “For what it's worth, I believe that you attempted to protect her.”

“Thank you.” She took another sip of water. “How did you know I was awake?”

“You are in my house, Ms. Mattox. While I trust that you had good intentions, that does not mean that I trust a stranger having free roam of my house. _Especially_ while myself, my son and his girlfriend were sleeping. I put in place several methods to keep track of you while you slept. When you began moving off of the couch downstairs the precautions woke me up. They will remain in place until I feel I have sufficient trust in you to remove them.”

She wasn't too happy with an older man having the ability to watch her while she slept, but she honestly couldn't say she'd have done any different in his place. So she simply nodded.

“Good." He said, taking her nod for acquiescence. "The television has been hooked back up in the family room. You may watch it on low volume if you wish. I am going back to bed.” He turned to leave, before pausing, glancing back over his shoulder. “And Ms. Mattox?” She looked at him questioningly. “If you attempt to come up the stairs to the second floor prior to six AM I will assume your intentions toward myself and my family are hostile and will react accordingly.” He then left without another word.

' _Great_ ' she thought. ' _Just great._ '

Making her way over to the couch by the television she began to flip through the DVDs. At least they have DVDs here and not some weird storage medium. Not recognizing any of the titles she grabbed the top one, _Occupied Evil,_ and placed it into the player.

She was still awake and at the television when Mr. Verres came back down the stairs. She had finished _Occupied Evil_ and _Occupied Evil 2_ , and, with a small break to devour the food left for her in the fridge (chicken breast and some kind of potato-something) was now most of the way through _Occupied Evil 3._

“Mr. Verres.” She greeted him, this time in a voice above a whisper.

He nodded in reply, crossing his arms as he did so. “Ms. Mattox. Are you feeling better?”

“Not really.” she replied honestly.

“Allow me to rephrase myself then. Do you think you will be feeling well enough to go to a store later?”

She nodded back. “I think so. For an hour or two at least. I'll also need to visit Sarah. I need to make sure she's alright.” He looked at her questioningly, but didn't interrupt. “She and I were connected in a very deep way. She wasn't able to shield herself and I was too busy to do so. I also had to drop that connection suddenly without any time to ease us out of it. She'll likely be dealing with echos, figments. She's likely having thoughts and impulses that are alien to her. She needs to be able to talk to someone who understands.”

He stood there, quiet for a moment, before replying. “She has asked about you. Perhaps for this very reason. At times she has acted like she knows you quite well.”

Ann sighed, rubbing her eyes. “She might think she does, but anything she has would be incomplete. Echoes of thoughts and fragments of memories. You can learn a lot about a person if you are properly connected with them, but not the way we were.”

“You sound experienced in the matter.” he replied.

“Hazards of my job. It's the kind of thing that can happen.”

“Ann.” he asked, changing the topic. “Of all the things we asked you yesterday, one of the most basic slipped by. I understand this may seem like a loaded question given your current situation, but how old are you?”

The question didn't catch her off guard, not really. But still she took time to think. “I have been wondering the same question. 'How old am I?' Two days? Two decades? I was attempting to match my body to my age, mid-twenties, but I didn't quite make it. Mentally I'm twenty five. If I had to guess about this body though...” She placed her hand on her side over her top, running a finger in the indent between a pair of ribs in thought. “I would guess nineteen or twenty.”

He arched a brow as she was speaking, but let her finish. “You seem fairly accepting of what's happened to you.”

“I'm trying not to think about it much.” She shrugged. “It could have been a lot worse.”

He nodded again. “I will be going up to my office. There are some people from my department coming around ten. I will introduce you when they arrive. As I believe you deserve the truth if your situation, you can think of them as a combination of escorts and chaperones. Their primary function right now will be to work with you to catalog, to the best of your knowledge, how magic works with you and how it works in your world. For the time being they, or someone else I feel is trustworthy, will escort you while you are out of the house. If Sarah is up to it, they will also take you to see her today. Do you have any questions?”

“None that are relevant.” She replied honestly

“Good.” he turned to leave. “I will see you in a couple of hours.”

 


End file.
